- The Washington Post took a look at the Youngstown Plan from its own perspective. “It all began in June, 2015…” (Washington Post, 2/1/16) Here is another perspective on the state of play in Youngstown’s elected school board. Closer, and more current. (Youngstown Vindicator, 2/1/16)
- Here is an update on EdChoice voucher applications for the 2016-17 school year, using a mix of rhetoric. That headline alone should come with a whiplash warning. (Columbus Dispatch, 2/2/16)
- Charter schools are the educational equivalent of Sharknado, says this guest commentator in the MJ’s Another Viewpoint series. Now, about the first viewpoint… (Northern Ohio Morning Journal, 2/2/16)
- High school teachers in Toledo City Schools, concerned about dropout rates, are trying a brand new, never-before-utilized dropout prevention strategy. It’s labor intensive for them and requires a ton of effort, but will be great if it works. Without any precedents at all, this is forging new ground. Good luck to all! (Toledo Blade, 1/31/16)
- Dayton City Schools is thinking along the same lines, but with 7th and 8th graders being the point of concern. Students in those grades have the highest suspension rates, says the supe, and so the district will be reconfiguring nearly every building in which those grade bands are currently served and most buildings that don’t currently serve them, starting this fall. The district treasurer says the move appears to be “cost neutral”, pending a busing study. (Dayton Daily News, 2/2/16)
- “It all began in early December, 2015…” What are we talking about? The “Fiscal Emergency” status declaration for Coventry Schools in Northeast Ohio. It came out of the blue; the previous 18 years of “Fiscal Watch” status give officials little time to prepare for the worst. Not sure how they got 1100+ words out of a story less than two months old. (The Suburbanite, 1/29/16)
- Columbus City Schools says the $61K it spent on the “state of the district” speech/pep rally was money well spent. Here’s why. (Columbus Dispatch, 2/3/16)
- Apologies for clipping a press release, but this was the best source for the full list of Straight A Innovation Fund projects recommended for funding this round. Rhetoric-free. (Ohio Department of Education, 2/2/16)
- We end with a two-fer from the Education Insider team at The D. First, the lobbyist/spokesman for Ohio’s largest online school responds to a previous article about “dismal” academic performance in charter schools. The team cannot resist the rhetorical temptation before them. Second, Columbus State Community College is switching providers for their student placement test. It is either because the original test was inaccurate (“…turns out that too often [it] indicated that students needed remedial classes when they didn't. A few days in the classroom or a separate diagnostic test would show that the student should have been in a college-credit class.”) or because the original test was discontinued. Who can say? (Columbus Dispatch, 2/3/16)
